In the depths of the Republic's catastrophic winter, Major Karin Muller is called upon to stop a group of 'escapers' from crossing the frozen Ostee. Ahead, her partner, Hauptmann Werner Tilsner has caught up with the group but is he arresting them, or assisting them . . .

When a flash of red hair against the expanse of white stops Muller in her tracks, she's in shock. A familiar young girl is on the Ostee. Codename; Wildcat .

As tensions grow with her deputy, Tilsner, and a woman's murder to solve, Muller must work to uncover the secrets of the state under the difficulties of the worst winter in history.